The first bank west of Lake Michigan

GREEN BAY – The first bank west of Lake Michigan was created by an act of the Michigan Territory Legislature in 1835.

Called the “Bank of Wisconsin,” the bank headquarters were located in Green Bay at the Astor Fur Company trading post — owned by John Jacob Astor and located on the corner of South Washington and Chicago streets.

“The first effort, I believe, to secure a bank west of (Lake Michigan) was made by Judge Doty on Feb. 14, 1834, when he reported from the committee on corporations a bill to incorporate the Bank of Wisconsin,” State Commissioner of Banking Marshall Cousins recalled in 1922 at a Brown County Bankers’ Development Association meeting.

On March 4 of that year, the act passed but was vetoed by then Michigan Territory Gov. George B. Porter on March 7.

Cousins said that the governor felt “the establishment of banks in the new and imperfectly organized country was a source of danger” and that he did not think “the necessity for a bank west of Lake Michigan existed.”

“He referred to the population as ‘sparse’ and, particularly in the lead mine districts ‘as unstable’ and doubted if a bank could be supported,” Cousins stated. “Gov. Porter referred to the Michigan currency of that day as being ‘entirely sound’ and that he wanted to keep it so.

“He objected to a requirement that only a majority of the directors were to reside in the county where the bank was to be located while the others might reside anywhere in the United States; to the provision which allowed the directors to borrow one-fourth of the capital and further objected to the provision for calling a meeting by notice to be printed in a newspaper five weeks previous to the meeting.”

At the time, it was thought that the nearest newspaper was printed in Detroit.

Though Wisconsin’s first paper — The Green Bay Intelligencer — is recorded to have started publication in 1833, it was apparently not on the legislature’s radar.

In November of that year, a bill authorizing the organization of a bank in Brown County was introduced by Michigan Territorial Council Member Charles Moran, of Wayne County.

The bill passed the legislature on Jan. 20, 1835, and was signed into law by the governor on Jan. 23.

“The law named John B. Ansley, John P. Arndt, Charles Tullar, William Dickinson, George D. Ruggles, Henry Merrill and Nathan Goodell as commissioners to receive subscribers and to take the preliminary steps for organization of this bank,” Cousins said.

“The official name of the bank was the ‘President, Directors and Company of the Bank of Wisconsin.’ The authorized capital was $100,000 to be divided into 2,000 shares of $50 each and the location of the bank was to be either in the county of Brown or the county of Iowa.”

Of the four existing counties, Michigan Territory 1835 census records show the population in Iowa County at 2,628 and Brown County 1,958, while Crawford and Chippewa counties had significantly less.

The Green Bay Intelligencer reported on Aug. 22, 1835, that the bill was passed and it was to be “located by a majority of the stockholders. The books were opened at Mineral Point on the second Monday of August last. But a few shares were taken, owing to the uncertainty about the place of operations. The books will be opened at this place on the fourth Monday or August, and from the interest lately manifested, it is expected that the stock will be eagerly taken.”

A March 9, 1836 edition of that publication announced a meeting of the stockholders to take place at the home of John P. Arndt later that month “for the purpose of deciding upon the expediency of increasing the capital stock of the bank.”

On Independence Day of 1836, the Wisconsin Territory was organized, with all current Michigan Territory laws carrying over.

In December of that year, a notice was published in the Wisconsin Democrat for a meeting to elect the bank’s board of directors.

The bank would be housed in the Astor Fur Company structure.

“The bank was originally located in a building erected by the Astor Fur Company described as a rambling two-story structure which extended the width of the block and was on the north side of Chicago Street between Adams and Washington streets. The building faced south and looked out on Astor Park,” a Press-Gazette article stated.

The Bank of Wisconsin collapsed the following year, with the “Panic of 1837” — a financial crisis that began a depression that lasted into the next decade.

Investors panicked and bank customers withdrew their money from the bank.

The large wooden structure that served as home for the bank eventually disappeared as well; however, the stone bank vault remained until 1899.

“The vault was frequently used to preserve the bodies of eastern settlers until arrival of a boat to take them down the lakes for burial,” an Oct. 26, 1925, edition of the Press-Gazette stated.